


A Trace of Rememberance

by SingingCookie



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: During Canon, Gen, Kairi (Kingdom Hearts)-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-29
Updated: 2018-08-29
Packaged: 2019-07-04 01:44:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15831198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SingingCookie/pseuds/SingingCookie
Summary: Life is always moving. The world forever turning. Waves crash against the shore, pushing and pulling at the sand. Time continues to tick on.These were things everyone knew, and yet, for Kairi, it felt as though everything stopped. Like she was frozen in time.





	A Trace of Rememberance

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place before we see Kairi and Selphie's conversation in KH2 but after work on Sora's memories began.
> 
> Just a little something I had written to delve into Kairi's character a bit more

Life is always moving. The world forever turning. Waves crash against the shore, pushing and pulling at the sand. Time continues to tick on.

These were things everyone knew, and yet, for Kairi, it felt as though everything stopped. Like she was frozen in time.

She could see the waves ebb at the shore and notice the sky as it changed throughout the day. They even touched her: the water would reach her shoes, soaking them inside and out—the sun would burn the back of her neck. But even as she sat there, staring off into the horizon with such things affecting her…she couldn’t really feel them.

She scarcely noticed when there was even a breeze, unless her red hair brushed against her face or obscured her vision. It wasn’t as though she didn’t  _want_ to feel them, she just couldn’t; she was so numb.

It had been a while since she had really felt anything. How long now? A few days? A week? It was impossible to tell in this state. Heck, she could barely remember what day it was.

All she really knew was everything she could see. The vast spread of water before her, stretching as far as the eye could see; the sky which was becoming the slightest bit darker, still tinted with orange and pink; and the sun that had begun to disappear behind the play island— _the play island!_ Her right hand moved to rest upon her heart as she closed her eyes.

She was back on that island, sitting on the dock. Kairi was there…but she wasn’t alone. She was speaking to someone—a boy from what she could just barely recall—but who was he? It was so hazy when she looked to him. A giant blur.

“Don’t ever change,” she had said. But who did she not want to change? Who was he? If only she could hear him. See him. Something.  _Anything._

Then suddenly it all disappeared. A mere flicker of remembrance. They came and went every once in a while. But not nearly enough to give her the answer she wanted—no,  _needed_  to have.

She opened her eyes to find she was sitting on the main island’s beach, just as before. Kairi exhaled softly, pulling her knees up to her chest and resting her chin atop them. She felt her stomach begin to churn and her eyes began to sting as she continued gazing at the ocean, which had begun to reflect the twilight sky above.

She hated this. She despised the fact that a person who had obviously been very important to her couldn’t be remembered. She could recall everything else in the memories. How she had felt, what she said, how the sky looked, how Riku acted…

“Riku…” His name was accompanied by a few tears rolling down her cheeks. “Why couldn’t you come home?” she wondered as she hastily wiped her face. Surely, if he was here, she wouldn’t feel quite so lost. And maybe together they could remember the other boy they had known for so long.

But it had been ages since she had seen him. And the last time she  _had_ seen him—spoke with him…

_“No. You won’t…use me for this!”_

_“Riku!”_

_“You’ve gotta run! The Heartless are coming!”_

She had to leave him… She still felt awful. Even though he was the one who told her to run in order to protect her, she still felt terrible for doing it. Especially because Kairi hadn’t seen him since then. The girl rubbed at her eyes again to try to dry them up; after all, Riku would feel just as bad as she did if he saw that what he had done had made her cry.

Besides he had to fine. This was  _Riku_. The guy who had fought Selphie, Tidus,  _and_ Wakka at once and  _won_. He was one of the strongest kids on the island. He could take care of himself, surely…

Her fingers wrapped around the charm of her necklace, a thumb running over its smooth surface. What would he say now if he knew what was happening? She was aware no one else on the island remembered, but she was certain this forgotten boy had been important to both of them. So if she could recall, however faintly, that meant he would too…right?

A shout of her name reached her ears, causing the girl to break the constant stare she had maintained with the horizon. A good ways down the sandy beach, she saw three of her fellow islanders near the dock. The youngest boy was tying a rowboat onto one of the posts, the older had his hands behind his head as he spoke to the other, and last was a fellow girl, waving an arm above her head. “Heeeeey!”

A smile touched Kairi’s face, giving the softest of laughs as she raised a hand in return. She began to stand up as Selphie made her way over, shouting farewells to her other friends who were still back on the dock. The redhead took a moment to wipe her face, wanting to make sure the younger girl saw no trace of the sadness she had been feeling.

Though she had always considered Selphie a friend of hers in the past, they had grown much closer over the past year. After a few mere days of noticing that Kairi spent most of her time alone now that her best friends were gone, the brunette made a point of hanging with her.

She could still remember the way it had started…  _“Hey”_ —Kairi had looked to see the girl was giving her a friendly grin—“ _c’mon, cheer up! What would your boys say if they could see you now, hmm?”_  If it hadn’t been for Selphie being, well, her usual bubbly self; she might have continued having such a difficult time adjusting. But something as simple as that was enough to make her laugh and allow herself to open up to someone. She had to be grateful for that.

The girl wearing the bright yellow dress ran up to her now, that all too familiar smile gracing her lips. “So this is where you’ve been. We were wondering if you were gonna show on the island.” Her hands went to her hips, attempting to look stern even when her expression said otherwise. “But you’ve been out here avoiding us, huh? I see how it is.”

“I knew you guys were gonna be coming back soon,” she pointed out with a grin over her own. “So I figured I may as well wait.” Kairi didn’t have the heart to tell her about the promise she made to herself concerning the island. She might tell her…eventually, but not now.

Selphie gave a thoughtful hum as she brought a hand up to her chin, her green eyes glancing to the side. “So I guess I can’t be  _too_ mad at you then,” she said. “Buuut~ you still owe me so…” She stayed like that for a moment longer before the hand that had been near her chin extended an open palm toward the other girl instead. “Whaddya say you invite me over for dinner, we watch a movie and then we’ll call it even?”

“Ha ha, I think you’ve got yourself a deal,” she said. Kairi took one last look at the horizon before following the other girl back toward the town, shouting a reminder, “You’ll have to help with dinner, though.”

“Hmm, only if you beat me back to your house,” she returned, getting a head start before the redhead could even answer.

“Oh, you’re on!”


End file.
